Center for HRM and Knowledge Work

For many organizations, the intellectual and creative potential of their managers and employees as well as their ability to create and exploit knowledge across boundaries are the main source of competitive advantage. This makes the unleashing and channeling of knowledge workers’ energy, creativity, connectivity and knowledge a key challenge.

The “Center for Research on Human Resource Management and Knowledge work” aims at increasing the understanding of the specific challenges involved in governing, managing, leading and working in knowledge intensive contexts. Human resource management systems and structures are viewed as a central element in shaping the work-life, motivation and behaviors of knowledge workers.

Research at the center has a broad theoretical foundation in Organizational Behavior, HRM and the broader social sciences. It integrates different perspectives on HRM, including functional, critical and interpretive approaches. An interest in the micro level i.e. individuals and their interactions and how this shapes and is shaped by organizational and other contextual structures is a common denominator.

Research at the center has a (non-exclusive) focus on professional services (e.g. consulting, auditing, law, Investment banking), including the creative industries (e.g. architecture, film production…) and professional service firms. Current research themes include HRM in professional service firms, purchasing, using and integrating professional services, trust creation in the interaction between professionals and their clients, knowledge integration in knowledge intensive teams, the management of knowledge work across boundaries, and organizing and leading creative processes.